Reviews

Leigh and her assistant Pam , listened to my concerns and helped keep me calm during a difficult time. Everything was explained to me and they were always able to answer my questions. Leigh was always honest (blunt) and straight to the point which I appreciated. No One ever wants to see a divorce lawyer, but the Carson law firm helped me a great deal. Thank you!

The Carson Law Firm is pleased to announce that Brooke E. Johnson has joined the Firm as a summer intern. Brooke is a 2010 graduate of Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis and currently attends Webster University, where she is majoring in political science. After graduation from Webster in 2015, Brooke plans to attend law […]

The Carson Law Firm is proud to announce that Savina Nikolova has joined the firm as a law clerk. Savina was graduated from Wahington University School of Law in May, 2014. During law school, Savina worked with the Intellectual Property and Nonprofit Organizations Legal Clinic and clerked for the American Civil Liberties Union. Savina was […]

On May 8, 2014, Judge Thomas J. Frawley, along with family law attorneys Leigh Joy Carson and Michael C. Todt, presented a CLE to benefit Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry, a St. Louis based charity that provides family law services to indigent people irrespective of their religion. The event was attended by 85 people from 5 […]

High Profile Lawyers talk about cases that will haunt them for the rest of their Lives From – St. Louis Magazine Excerpt from St. Louis Magazine “Impossibly cute” and “a little Huck Finn blond” is how Clayton family lawyer Leigh Joy Carson describes 7-year old Steven*, a boy she was appointed to represent as […]

OCDC Opinion Often Violated, Lawyers Say From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly By: Ann Corrigan November 3, 2003 Although they should know better, some attorneys routinely violate ethical rules by talking to children in domestic cases even though a guardian ad litem has been appointed, according to family lawyers. The situation often arises when an attorney for […]

Biological Dad Was In Prison For Homicide From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly By: Kelly Kress February 17, 2003 Even though a man was not a minor girl’s natural father – and even though her mother was not found to be unfit – he could get visitation after his divorce from the mother, St. Louis County […]

From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly October , 2002 Also published in The Countian By Leigh Joy Carson I have a confession to make: I am not very good at organized volunteer work. I don’t like meetings with agendas, I don’t like long discussions of points that I don’t find important, and I don’t like the expectation of […]

Experts Say Changes Allow Judicial Discretion From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly By: Stephanie Maniscalco October 7, 2002 The wait is over for Missouri family law attorneys anxious to learn whether proposals to modify the Form 14 child support worksheet would be approved by the state Supreme Court. “Most family law attorneys know the committee suggested changes […]

Relative’s Testimony and Video Can Help From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly by Kristen Garroway July 22, 2002 Trying a lawsuit in which one of the parties has died or become incapacitated by the time of trial presents unique challenges to attorneys, as a recent Jefferson County case shows. In that slip-and-fall case the plaintiff died of […]

What To Do Before and After From – The St. Louis Bar Journal Winter, 2001 By: Leigh Joy Carson Every family law practitioner faces the possibility of dealing with the abduction of a child by a family member. It is one of the most stressful situations imaginable for the parent left behind, and it is time […]

Protecting Your Client’s Interests From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly October 8, 2001 By Leigh Joy Carson Do you just tell your client that the guardian ad litem is the lawyer for the children and tell him or her to call and set up a time to meet? I would submit that you are making a big […]

Attorneys: Internet A Benefit in Custody Cases From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly by Geri Dreiling October 1, 2001 A growing number of Missouri lawyers are recommending electronic mail to divorced parents as a way of communicating with each other and with a child who is at the other parent’s home. E-mail is viewed as a “safe” […]

Be a Mentor From – St. Louis Lawyer June 6, 2001 By: Leigh Joy Carson This column has historically been devoted to profiling those who do “good works” for the community on a large-scale basis: educational programs, outreach to the economically depressed, assistance to the elderly and the like. This month, instead of profiling those who […]

Loophole could still allow father to take her there From – St. Louis Post-Dispatch June 5, 2001 After two years of legal battles, Sandra Lowery-Rice has won a court decision to prevent her former husband from taking their daughter Maggie to visit his native Iran. But the woman from rural Greenville, IL is celebrating only so […]

What To Do Before and After From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly October 9, 2000 By: Leigh Joy Carson The client tells you that she is concerned that her soon to be ex-husband will kidnap the children. Even worse, the client calls and tells you that his ex-wife has not returned the children after visitation, her house […]

No Harm To Daughter Shown In Case From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly August 21, 2000 Even though a mother suffered from schizophrenia and depression, her parental rights should not be terminated merely because she had an irreversible mental illness, the Missouri Court of Appeals’ Eastern District has ruled. The state argued that the mother suffered from […]

Ex-Husband Taking Boy On Cruise Down Amazon From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly May 15, 2000 Even though a mother with primary physical and legal custody of her 14-year-old son objected to her ex-husband’s plan to take the boy on a cruise down the Amazon during his visitation period, she violated the father’s visitation rights by refusing […]

From – Progressive Woman May, 2000 By: Leigh Joy Carson The news is full of stories about local couples adopting children from China and Russia and Bulgaria. It is heartwarming how many of our neighbors and friends have opened their homes and their hearts to these children whose parents are unable to care for them. Sadly there […]

But Some Clients Find Useful Info For Cases From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly March 20, 2000 The online revolution is transforming the way clients approach their legal problems, Missouri attorneys say. On the down side, the Internet makes it more tempting than ever for lay people to try legal self-help by making use of the inexhaustible supply of free […]

From – St. Louis Post-Dispatch October 3, 1999 Teaching has come a long way in the 31 years since Linda Tooley first asked her students to crack open their textbooks. In that time, societal issues have encroached on the classroom, sometimes violently. Among those encroachments are issues of child abuse and other types of family violence. […]

Informative Sessions At Florissant Valley From – North County Journals September 22, 1999 A St. Louis city lawyer and Circuit Court judge are organizing an event they hope will make people more aware of domestic violence and available resources. Leigh Joy Carson, a family law attorney, and Thomas Frawley, 22nd Judicial Circuit Court judge, will host […]

From – Progressive Woman June, 1999 By: Leigh Joy Carson Brandishing of guns…broken bones…stab wounds…even death…the stories are gruesome: These are the stories of family violence that are told to jerk us out of our complacency, our feeling that family violence“ doesn’t happen in my neighborhood,” our indifference to the issues. Instead of getting our attention, however, sometimes […]

From – St. Louis Daily Record May, 14 1999 A St. Louis City local court rule requiring a party in a family law case who propounds interrogatories and requests documents to attach its own responses does not conflict with Missouri Supreme Court rules, the state’s high court said Tuesday in a per curiam opinion. “The rules […]

From – Monthly News Magazine Of The Bar Association Of Metropolitan St. Louis April 7,1999 Everyone will agree that family violence is a real problem in our community. Every day, there are women (and some men) in-the courthouse seeking an order of protection against a spouse, former spouse, or a partner. A number of agencies provide […]

Methods are available to Ensure Reliability From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly November 9, 1998 BY CHRIS BROWN Lawyers who interview young children in preparing a case must take certain steps to ensure that the information they get is reliable, experts say. For while many children have good memories, the way they perceive and express “facts” is […]

From — Missouri Lawyers Weekly August 10, 1998 Leigh Joy Carson has been elected vice chair of the Family Law Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis. The section provides professional opportunities and CLE programs for attorneys, and this year has begun co-sponsoring parenting programs with community groups. Carson is a solo practitioner in […]

The expenses of noncustodial parents will be recognized From – St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 28, 1998 JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri judges can now lower child support payments for the time noncustodial parents – most of them dads – spend with their children. Under a new system recently approved by the state Supreme Court, noncustodial […]

From — Progressive Woman May 1998 The Friends of Heritage House are proud to announce its formation. This not-for-profit corporation will support Heritage House, a supervised visitation and access center in the City of St. Louis. The Friends will not only raise funds for Heritage House, but will also help publicize the services that […]

From — Missouri Lawyers Weekly April 14, 1998 (Front Page) An older sister who developed a ‘bonding familial relationship” through years of caring for her two young siblings has defeated the children’s father for sole legal custody, in a ruling by the St. Louis City Circuit Court. Even though the father was “not unfit,” […]

From — Missouri Lawyers Weekly December 15, 1997 By Kenneth C. Jones A stepmother who had “primary day-to-day responsibility” for an 11-year old boy for eight years was his “equitable parent” and could win sole legal custody of the boy over the father, who was her ex-husband, and the birth-mother, even though they were […]

From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly June 23,1997 Lawyers who practice in Missouri’s busiest Family Court will be laboring under some sweeping rule changes after July 1. The new St. Louis Local Rule 68 establishes mandatory “parenting plans” and mediation and affords increased access to ex parte orders. St. Louis Family Court Judge Thomas Frawley, […]

by Jerry Berger AT THE BENCH: Attorneys Leigh Joy Carson and Barbara Greenberg have teamed to open their own law firm, Carson & Greenberg, in Clayton. The firm specializes in domestic relations and appeals. Carson was formerly of counsel with Rothman Sokol Adler & Sarachan; Greenberg was formerly with Wittner Poger & Rosenblum…. ###

From — Missouri Lawyers Weekly January 13, 1997 By Keith R. Krueger An American couple who cared for two African-refugee orphans while their care-taker-aunt was dying were entitled to their permanent custody rather than the Children’s African uncle, who was “in a position to help the children maintain their cultural and ethnic identity,” the […]

From — Missouri Lawyers Weekly December 9, 1996 By Stephanie Skinner A mother could not have her parental rights involuntarily terminated for neglect even though she didn’t pay child support after her 1991 divorce despite having the means to do so, according to the Missouri “Court o Appeals’ Eastern District. This is because the intentional […]

From – St. Louis Business Journal December 4, 1996 Leigh Joy Carson, of Ellisville, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for Kids in the Middle, a non-profit counseling and consulting agency for children from separated, divorced and step-parent families. Carson is an attorney who practices domestic relations and family law.

From – Suburban Journal West December 1, 1996 LEIGH JOY CARSON of Ellisville, has been appointed to the board of directors of Kids in the Middle, a non-profit counseling and consulting agency for children from separated, divorced and step-parent families ###

From – Missouri Lawyers Weekly May 13, 1996 A lesbian without any biological or legal relationship to a two and one-half year old child has been named the ‘equitable parent’ of the child and given full visitation rights in a St. Louis City Circuit Court case. The court broke new ground in Missouri law by adopting […]

From —USA Today-Friday, May 10, 1996 Missouri St. Louis-A judge gave the natural mother custody of her son, 2, but she must consult with her ex-lesbian lover on parenting decisions. The ex-lover also gets custody every other Friday. (Note: Leigh Joy Carson tried this case as the child’s court appointed Guardian Ad Litem) ###

An ‘Equitable Parent’ Idea Applied To Relationship Of Woman, 2-Year -Old From — St. Louis Post-Dispatch May 9, 1996 By Martha Shirk ,Of the Post-Dispatch Staff A lesbian who’s taken care of her former lovers’ 2 1/2-year-old child from birth is the child’s “equitable” parent” and should help raise him; a St. Louis judge […]

From — St. Louis Post-Dispatch April 10, 1996 St. Louis Family Court Judge Thomas J. Frawley says Missouri’s domestic relations laws may not suggest a perfect remedy for one of the most unusual custody issues he’s been asked to resolve: whether to give custody of a 2 1/2-year-old boy to an unrelated lesbian who […]

Boy’s Mother Says Adults Were Friends, Woman Was Godmother From — St. Louis Post-Dispatch April, 3 1996 By Martha Shirk Of the Post-Dispatch Staff In a case that reflects the complexities of family relationships in the ’90s, a lesbian has asked a judge to give her custody of a child born to a woman […]

From — St. Louis Post-Dispatch December 4, 1992 By William C. Lhotka Of the Post Dispatch Staff In the newest custody wrinkle, a judge has given a St. Charles man one dog and his estranged wife the other. The couple may prefer living apart, but will the dogs? The court order speaks to that […]

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